Everything happens at once :(

[samantha625]

Why does it happen that when it rains it pours?
We had to buy a new car 2 months ago, and it's a good thing we did, as dh's car is now undriveable- at least I think it's unsafe, the driver's side door won't shut among about $700.00 worth of other problems. It does have 270,000 miles on it though and it served us well for the 13 years we've had it! It makes me nervous though having done that so close to the bk filing.
Now, we have a refrigerator that won't keep our food cold enough. Things are so warm I worry about getting sick from eating the food.
We rent but our landlord told us when we moved in, the fridge was the last tenants, if we wanted a new one at any time it was up to us to buy one.
Is it going to raise a red flag if we buy one now? We should be filing bk next week.
I really don't mind buying something used and cheap, but should we even do this at all right now?

[keepmine]

A refrigerator is not a luxury item. Go for it!

Have you thought about seeing if it can be repaired?

[JRScott]

a fridge is a normal item, don't splurge but you have to have one.

[justplaintired]

We had to replace our fridge about a month ago. We found a scratch and dent model, for a much reduced price. We were told it wasn't a luxury item therefore we were safe to purchase it. We had our stimulus check and used what we had left of it for the fridge and a small loan threw DH employer, so now we wait to pay that off and file. ($250) $25 wkly, 3 weeks to go.

We would have filed sooner if it wasn't for this, but having a fridge isn't an option. We didn't have one for about 4 days and with 2 kids it just won't work. We tried finding a used fridge with no luck.

At the time I was sick about it, but this one is energy star and is suppose to cost $56 a yr to run. I already think it has saved us as we just got our electric bill and it was less then I figured it would be and we are running AC right now!

[BKParalegal]

You may need to talk with your attorney, it is a rather small loan, but if it wasn't secured to the refrigerator, you are "technically" paying one creditor over others, which is preferential treatment. Again, it is such a small amount, it shouldn't matter, but it depends on the Trustees in your district.

Good Luck

[AngelinaCatHub]

A suggestion above the obvious. Check with management of section 8 housing developments. They change out things like that and if they have a refer that works you may get it for pennies. I purchased one real nice working one at a flea market for $100.00
Depending on how big you need, Walmart has new apartment style refers for less than $100.00. The kind that set on the floor not the kind that holds two cans of beer. Your news paper is probably full of them.

BTW, does it freeze things? A VERY common repair on the modern refrigerator is that the fan freezes up (mechanically) in the freezer. That is designed to move cold down to the refer part. I fixed one of my refriges by taking a fan from an old microwave (we pick them up beside the road on garbage piles. They mostly work) and installing it in the freezer. It takes some mechanical skill but I’ve done this kind of thing all my life. Check the fan for free movement. (unplug the unit when working on it) 'Hub

[samantha625]

You all are so helpful, thanks so much!
It's pretty old, I'd say at least 30 years old, I have a feeling our elec. bill will lower too when we get rid of it.
We will look for something used. It just occurred to me to call the local appliance store, I know that they give or sell very cheaply appliances that they take from people who buy new.
Thanks everyone, I do feel better now!

[Cali]

I think the Trustee would understand having to keep your food cold so you can eat it.

You may need to talk with your attorney, it is a rather small loan, but if it wasn't secured to the refrigerator, you are "technically" paying one creditor over others, which is preferential treatment. Again, it is such a small amount, it shouldn't matter, but it depends on the Trustees in your district.

Good Luck

[AngelinaCat]

I agree with all of the above. A working refrigerator is a must. You don't need a stay in the ER or hospital for anyone in your family because of food poisoning!

[BassBoy]

If your fridge has a defrost cycle, most likely, the heating element or defrost timer is not working properly. When this happens, the coil builds up with frost/ice and cold air is not able to travel from the freezer to the fridge compartment. If you can get to the coil and if it's built up with frost......trust me, it will look like the second Ice Age is coming in your freezer.........take a hair dryer and melt the frost. It will take about half-an-hour or so. Once you've completely defrosted the coil, the fridge should start working properly again. You may have to do this once every 7 to 10 days, but it will help keep your food cold and buy you some time while you shop for a new fridge.

[my4devils]

Try Craig's List too. We got a nearly new fridge given to us by my husband's boss and we sold ours on there- a few years old in great shape for a hundred bucks. Good deals- just watch the scammers!

[justplaintired]

You may need to talk with your attorney, it is a rather small loan, but if it wasn't secured to the refrigerator, you are "technically" paying one creditor over others, which is preferential treatment. Again, it is such a small amount, it shouldn't matter, but it depends on the Trustees in your district.

Good Luck

We have waited this long if we have to wait a little longer we will. This is a deduction of $25 a week on DH check each week. We had no choice and if they consider this preferential treatment to a creditor, then I would be surprised. This is a fringe benefit my DH employer offers to their employees. We don't make a payment directly, it's out of his check, we never touch or see the money. Since this loan was for $240, we had the rest of the money out of the stimulus, I am unsure they will guestion such a small amount, but maybe we will drag this out even longer. We have put off filing due to one charge on one card, that time has passed, then we waited for the stimulus, that's gone, now we wait to put time between this small loan, at the rate we are going we will still be going threw this in the winter! I just want this over with.

[danaf]

What a shitty landlord. When you rent, places are supposed to have functioning fridges. If I were you, I'd hang on to the old one maybe in the garage or something and when you move out, take your new fridge with you & put the old one back. If you can't do that - try to have him sign something acknowledging the facts about the fridge just so he doesn't try to screw you when you leave. I just think people like that suck.

[ssdsco]

Sorry if someone mention this already but the gasket can be a common problem.

[justplaintired]

Our fridge that broke, it was the compressor or whatever, either way it was going to cost more then we paid for it. It was used when we bought it, by our figures it must have been between 15-20 years old. We paid $100 for it 3 yrs ago, it didn't seem smart to fix it. We are trying to reduce utility bills and that had to be running it up. We

We did however have a fridge one time that we did defrost with a hair dryer and it would work fine for awhile. So that does work. This time we just weren't so lucky.